Immortal Bonds
by Taurus Pixie
Summary: Accidentally selling her soul to the demon prince Chat Noir wasn't the smartest thing Marinette could have done. But it's not long before Marinette begins to realise there's more to Chat Noir, and the demonic world she's now found herself in, than meets the eye. AU. *New Version*
1. Prologue

**I can't believe this story literally took me a whole year to re-make. So yeah, this story is a re-make of my fanfiction 'Immortal Bond', which I'm sure many people reading this now are familiar with. I ended up hitting a dead end with the first version and just wasn't happy with it at all, so I decided to start from the beginning again. So while the overall storyline is pretty much the same, there will be quite a few differences. I have left the original story up for you to read and compare if you like, and you can find it by just checking out my fanfiction profile. I hope that you guys enjoy the new version of the story!**

**Also, yeah, I did end up having the tweak the name slightly since fanfiction won't let me have two stories with the same name. I thought it was pretty funny, so thank you so much to my boyfriend for giving me this idea. At least this way I get to pretty much keep the name and have it still mean the same thing. **

**Rated M for horror, dark themes, strong violence and possible mild language. **

**I do not own Miraculous Ladybug. This is merely fanfiction written for fun and I am making no money out of this.**

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**~ Immortal Bonds ~**

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**Prologue**

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Grey and dead. Grey, fuzzy and dead. It was like trying to watch an old fashioned black and white television screen. Her vision was like static, and she could barely make out what was in front of her. But she could certainly sense that she was sitting in some sort of chair. That, and the overwhelming feeling that she wasn't alone.

How did she get here? Where even was _here? _

Looking around in panic didn't provide much help. It only served to make her vision even more blurry as nothing but grey static surrounded her. It really was like she was trapped inside a badly tuned old television. But when she ceased her panicked movements, her vision began to settle. The outlines of even more chairs began to appear, with tables decorated with dead potted flowers, and, much to her surprise and confusion, what looked like a stack of magazines.

However, she quickly recoiled in horror as the outlines of figures began to appear in a few of the chairs. Her whole body froze in fear, desperate to get up and run from these terrifying beings, only for her terror to paralyse her, worried that any sudden movement might alert them to her presence. There were no identifiable features on the figures. Just a dark mass in the recognisable shape of a fellow human being, with their outline fading into a blur.

Fear almost choked her when one of the figures turned its head to look at her. An expressionless face that was nothing but a dark void. But she could sense its eyes watching her. Then, as quick as it had turned to face her, the figure turned its head back to stare straight ahead again, casually folding its arms across its chest before crossing one leg over the other.

This caused some of the fear to drain away as she stared at the figure in confusion. It wasn't going to hurt her? It looked like…like…it was just casually sitting there, waiting for something to happen.

Upon that realisation, she looked to the rest of the figures in shock. Many figures surrounded her, all appearing to be sitting down and just waiting. Some were slouched while others looked lost in a magazine. Some even appeared to be just as confused as she was, their heads bobbing up and down as if they were trying to shout something, only they had no mouth…no voice.

In fact, the whole room was eerily silent. Not a single sound could be heard.

Her panic rising again, she turned towards the figure sitting next to her and tried to yell something. To beg for some sort of explanation. To ask where she was and what was going on. To ask _who _she was.

Because she had no idea.

The figure beside her just simply stared blankly back, expressionless and empty. Nothing but a dark and blurry shadow. In the end, it seemed to get bored as it leaned towards the coffee table in front of them and picked up a magazine before flicking through the pages, completely ignoring the hysterical girl beside it.

That was all she knew. She was a girl. She…she was someone important…

Something…something had happened…

And this was where she had awoken.

She strained her brain to try and remember something…anything!

But there was nothing.

Just an unbearable heat. The ghost of a sinister smile. A…a white butterfly.

She jolted at that sudden memory, desperately clinging onto it as it kept threatening to fade away. She couldn't just forget! There was something important that she needed to do! But whatever it was, it had completely faded from her memory. It was like she didn't even have memories anymore. She felt like nothing more than an empty shell. She knew of existence. That was all. She was a conscious being, but that was all. She had been somebody once, that much she could sense.

It was hopeless.

But she was determined to find a way out. Even without her memories, she could at least try and escape this scary place. Who knows how long she had been there. Seconds. Minutes. Months. Maybe even years. All she knew was that she had something important to do, and she couldn't just hang around here waiting.

Cautiously, she stood up from her chair, watching the dark figures around her carefully. None of them seemed to react much. A few glanced up at her, but they soon went back to doing their own thing, further boosting her confidence and determination. So she took one slow step forward. Then another. And another. Soon enough, she was walking again, and no one was stopping her. Maybe this place was safe, but that didn't mean she wanted to stick around in it.

The room almost felt endless as she walked past row after row of chairs full of figures all sitting and waiting for…what exactly? But she would have to worry about them later. Right now, she needed to focus on finding a way out.

"Ladybug!" a distant, familiar voice called to her.

An instant stabbing pain covered her whole body. That voice…it was so familiar. And that name…

Had the voice come from somewhere in this room, or had it been all inside her head? She quickly glanced around as she kept walking, but no one else appeared to be reacting. As soon as the voice had appeared, it had also disappeared, leaving her to question whether she had actually heard anything at all. After a never ending silence, had she finally gone mad? Was her mind producing sounds just to fill that void?

Regardless, she began to break into a jog, and then a sprint. But the air around her felt like it was growing thicker, rendering her unable to run properly. It was like an elastic rope had been tied around her waist, and the further she got, the more it fought to pull her back. She let out a silent scream as she fought against the powerful force. She would not be pulled back. She would make it out of here.

Her determination was only further fuelled by the appearance of some glass double doors ahead of her. Beyond the doors looked to be nothing but a dark void, but she was going to take her chances. It was a door, so surely that had to be her way out. At the very least, it had to be better than staying in this awful place.

However, the closer she got, the more it felt like an uphill battle. It was like the whole world had suddenly titled onto its side, and she was now battling against the forces of gravity to make it up there. The room around her warped, stretching and contorting as she fought with all of her might to reach the door. She stretched her hand out, her fingers finally making contact with the cool metal door handles, allowing her to pull herself the rest of the way.

The door begrudgingly opened under her weight, and with the last ounce of her strength, she managed to pull herself through. The very second she passed the threshold, the doors slammed shut behind her, and the world felt like it was back to normal again, with no powerful force trying to pull her back. It was like a huge weight had been lifted off her, and she could finally breathe again.

She did it.

She had escaped.

She was free.

Feeling a rush of euphoria, she took a step forward, only for her foot to meet no solid ground beneath her. With a silent gasp, she fell forward over the edge of an invisible, dark abyss, sending her falling down into the void. No matter how much she screamed, no sound passed her lips. Her limbs flailed around, trying to grab hold of something – anything!

Terror consumed her as she continued to endlessly fall, her mind crying out for a name she had long forgotten.

_Chat Noir._

Those two words were her final thought as she fell, until finally she was engulfed by a mysterious, white light before everything went black once again.

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**Originally I was going to have this as part of the first chapter, but I thought it actually worked quite well as a prologue. But yeah, I'm back, baby! This story has certainly been giving me hell for a long time, so I just hope that I've got it right this time. Feel free to let me know your thoughts so far in a review, as reviews certainly always help us writers out. If you're new, then welcome! I do also have other Miraculous Ladybug fics if you're interested. I'm hoping to get the next chapter up within the next couple of days, maybe a week at most, but you can always check out my blog or follow me on Twitter to stay in the loop. See you guys soon!**


	2. A Strange Encounter

**Ugh, I did not mean to disappear for this long. In fact I didn't mean to disappear at all. Stupid real life. Basically I've had a few issues going on such as hospital trips, my job being a pain, being robbed twice and all of that lovely fun stuff. So yeah, I am so sorry about the long wait for an update, especially since the prologue was so short. Hopefully there will never be a large gap like that between updates again. Thank you guys so much for being patient with me, I really appreciate it!**

**Also, thank you so much for all of your lovely reviews on the prologue! I'm so happy that I already have so many of you intrigued! Welcome back to old and new readers! It's super stormy outside today, so I thought today would be the perfect day to really focus on this chapter. But anyway, enough of me rambling! Onto the chapter!**

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**Chapter I: A Strange Encounter**

Bright blue eyes snapped open before their owner jolted upright in bed. Her heart was pounding from the remnants of a forgotten dream – or a nightmare. Dark hair stuck to the thin layer of cold sweat that now coated her skin, causing her to instantly shiver as the blankets fell from around her, exposing her to the cold autumn air that filled her room. Everywhere was a dull grey, with only a few rays of light streaming in through the gap in her curtains which suddenly blew open, billowing and dancing around in the air as the cold breeze from outside burst through the open window.

Marinette sighed to herself, her body finally relaxing, reassuring herself that her sudden fear and panic was caused by nothing more than a dream she thankfully couldn't remember. Frowning, she leaned forward to slam her window closed, confused as to why it was even open in the first place. She didn't remember opening it, because after all, why would she? It was freezing outside, and Marinette hated the cold.

However, she quickly shrugged it off, too tired to care as she flopped back down onto her mattress, dramatically throwing one arm across her forehead as she blew a stray strand of hair off her face in frustration. Another rotten night's sleep. Hopefully it wasn't too late – or technically early – to get a few extra precious hours of shut-eye. Though the dull light from outside didn't give her much hope. Still, it would probably be best to check the time to be on the safe side.

Heaving herself to the side, Marinette grabbed her phone to check the time before her phone started loudly vibrating in her hand, causing her to clumsily juggle it between her hands. It took Marinette's tired brain a few seconds to catch up with what was going on, and she groaned as she silenced her alarm. Time for school.

Marinette could already feel the tired headache beginning at the front of her skull, but still, it was Friday, and she had a slumber party with her friends to look forward to tonight. Though Marinette doubted she would be able to stay up very late with the way she was currently feeling. It felt like her eyeballs had swollen to twice their size, and her weakened eyelids struggled to remain open as she dragged herself out of bed and yawned loudly. She could already sense that it was going to be a long day.

The dark morning really wasn't helping with Marinette's tiredness, and she kept having to resist the urge to crawl back into bed as she packed her school things as well her stuff for that night. She just hoped that she would be more awake by then. Maybe something nice and chocolate-y would help with that, and Marinette's stomach rumbled at the thought. She would need all the sugar she could get.

Throwing her backpack over her shoulder, Marinette practically sleepwalked downstairs into the kitchen where her mother was already preparing some breakfast. Her mother's chipper and alert attitude as she hummed to herself while placing some fresh croissants onto a plate made Marinette feel jealous. Though as bakers, her parents were probably used to being up super early.

"Good morning, dear," Sabine greeted her daughter as she slumped down on a stool.

"Morning, mom," Marinette replied before yawning again.

"Oh dear, did you not get much sleep again last night?" Sabine immediately went into overly concerned mode.

Marinette lunged for the chocolate spread, slathering her croissant with the delectable goodness before biting off a huge mouthful. The sweet taste instantly put Marinette in a much better mood, though she had to resist the urge to close her eyes in ecstasy. That would definitely be a bad idea.

"Sadly, no," Marinette finally replied after swallowing. Despite how grateful her body was for the comfort food, her eyes still burned and begged her to go back to bed which was still calling to her from upstairs. Maybe she should call in sick? But then she would miss the sleepover. There was no way her parents would let her go to the sleepover if she took a day off school because she was too tired.

"You've been having trouble sleeping a lot lately," Sabine noted. "Is there something bothering you?"

Marinette shrugged. "Nothing apart from today's math test," she half-joked.

"Hmmm, well just make sure you're not on your phone or computer before bed."

Marinette rolled her eyes. "Yes, mom."

Though that was likely the cause most of the time, there were a select few times – like last night for example – where it felt like there was much more to it than that. It had only been these past few weeks that it had started happening. Marinette just couldn't seem to get a decent night's sleep, no matter what she tried. She often woke up scared and afraid, but she wasn't sure why. Maybe she was just having nightmares that she couldn't remember, but even nightmares were a once in a blue moon occurrence for Marinette, not something that went on for _weeks. _

It didn't take Marinette long to feel full from the overly sugary breakfast, and when she checked her phone after washing her dishes, she smiled to see that she would be on time for school once. Despite living just around the corner from her school, Marinette always managed to find some way of being late. But today wasn't going to be one of those days. Despite feeling like her head was being squished in a vice, she was determined to have a normal day and have a good time with her friends later tonight.

The thought of the sleepover created butterflies in her stomach. With all the tests at school lately, it felt like it had been an eternity since she had gotten to spend some good quality time with her friends. Not to mention they would be having it at Alya's place, and her apartment was the most spacious. Plus her parents and younger twin sisters would be away for the night, and Nora would usually stay well out of their way, so they would pretty much have the place to themselves. It was going to be so much fun!

Growing more and more excited, Marinette swung her backpack over her shoulder before giving her mother a quick kiss on the cheek and headed out the door. She gave her father a quick kiss too as she made her way through the bakery, enjoying the smell of fresh bread and pastries as she fought her way through the long line of customers that had developed.

The fresh autumn air soon hit her face, helping her to wake her up a little bit more, though there was still no sign of the sun which Marinette really felt like she could use right now. Instead, the sky remained dreary, overcast and grey. It even looked like it might try and rain at some point. Red leaves blew through the air, burying most of the sidewalk, though Marinette enjoyed the crunchy sound beneath her feet as she, for once, was able to take her time while walking to school.

Her gaze remained down on the ground, her eyes scanning every colour beneath her, making mental notes of beautiful autumn themed clothes she could make, all based on the beautiful colours of the fallen leaves. Red, yellow and orange filled her vision, with a hint of silver as the cold air caused Marinette's breath to turn into wisps that danced before her until vanishing. In fact, Marinette was so lost in her ideas and inspiration, that she didn't even fully pay attention when crossing the road, simply following the crowd instead of looking properly.

Most of the leaves on the road had been squashed down by cars, giving them a more shiny appearance that distracted Marinette even more. She would have to whip out her sketch book as soon as she made it in for roll call, that way she could make sure that she didn't lose any of this inspiration.

Suddenly, Marinette's thoughts came to a grinding halt when her foot collided with something hard. Before she knew it, the ground was getting closer and closer to her face until at last, her brain managed to catch up with what was going on, allowing Marinette to throw her hands in front of her, and catching herself just in time before her face scraped across the tarmac. There was little to protect her hands though, and she could already feel the stinging and burning on the skin of her palms.

Marinette yelped slightly in pain, followed by another, deeper yelp from next to her. That's when Marinette finally gasped and looked around to try and figure out what had just happened. Her eyes catch sight of an old man lying on the ground next to her, looking just as confused as she felt. A walking stick lay a few centimetres away, and that's what Marinette figured she must have tripped over.

Her face immediately turned bright red, especially as people continued to walk past them and step over them, some of them even shooting Marinette a dirty look for tripping over a poor old man – yet none of them bothered to offer any help.

The old man struggled to reach for his walking stick, which Marinette quickly made a grab for, spluttering the whole time as she tried to apologise, with only gibbering nonsense making its way past her lips. She handed the walking stick back to the man before hooking her arms under his own and helping him back onto his feet.

"Oh, thank you," the old man breathlessly thanked her, sounding incredibly grateful.

"Sorry sorry sorry sorry!" was all Marinette could yell in response.

"It's alright, my dear," the old man replied kindly, turning to face her once Marinette had released him.

He was incredibly short in stature, with a receding hairline of grey hair, along with a grey moustache and pointy beard. His brown eyes were wise and kind, and his skin was pale, and remarkably almost completely unwrinkled apart from crow's feet and laugh lines that decorated his cheeks. His attire was unique to say the least, consisting of tan pants as well as a red and white Hawaiian shirt. It was a wonder that he wasn't at least shivering in the chilly weather. But he appeared to be unbothered by the cold temperature, nor the fact that Marinette had just knocked him over.

"I'm sorry, I'm just… really clumsy," Marinette admitted, rubbing the back of her head awkwardly.

The old man chuckled. "Just like someone I used to know a long, long time ago now."

"I bet they didn't trip people over in the middle of the road though," Marinette mumbled, and is if to emphasise her point, the cars behind them started loudly beeping their horns, making Marinette realise that they were both still standing in the middle of the road.

Yelping, Marinette grabbed hold of the old man's wrist and dragged him behind her back to the other side of the road. She released a huge sigh of relief once they were finally out of harm's way, and the traffic began moving again, some of the drivers even giving Marinette a glare as they drove past. Great. Just great. Marinette felt like she was upsetting and annoying the whole of Paris today. This was definitely not a good start to the day.

"No," the old man chuckled, "but they were no stranger to getting themselves into trouble."

"Sounds like we could be long lost twins," Marinette replied, still catching her breath.

"Perhaps." He smirked at her.

"I really am sorry for knocking you over. I wasn't looking where I was going," Marinette apologised, still feeling embarrassed over the whole thing.

The old man laughed. "Fate has an interesting way of guiding people sometimes. I'm Fu. Master Wang Fu."

"Marinette." She smiled back at him awkwardly.

"What a pretty name," Master Fu remarked.

"Umm – thanks. Do you need any more help?"

"No, I'm quite alright," Master Fu declined her offer, "though you could always join me for a pot of tea sometime."

"Yeah, sure," Marinette responded without really thinking. She felt like it would be rude to decline or point out the fact that she was likely never going to see him again. But he was probably just a friendly, lonely old man, and Marinette wanted to humour him. Especially after nearly getting them both run over.

Marinette then glanced towards the school where she was sure she had just heard the bell.

"Because I'm sure we'll be seeing each other again very soon," Master Fu added.

"Yeah…" Marinette replied absentmindedly. "Wait – what?"

She immediately turned back around to face Master Fu, but she blinked in shock when she saw that he had completely disappeared. Marinette looked around in confusion, convinced that he had been standing right next to her a mere few milliseconds ago. But there was no sign of him anywhere. Wow. For an old guy, he sure moved fast, Marinette thought to herself.

The last words he had spoken to her finally registered in her sluggish brain, causing her even more confusion, and honestly, it creeped her out a little bit. She was sure he didn't mean to sound creepy, and was probably just being friendly, but still… something about his words and the way he said them sent a shiver up Marinette's spine. Not to mention the fact that something seemed almost slightly… _familiar _about him.

No. There couldn't be. It was all just in Marinette's imagination. Marinette's extremely tired imagination.

Brushing the incident off, Marinette then gasped when she realised that she was now most likely late. Panic instantly consumed her, and she darted back across the road and sprinted to school as fast as her legs could carry her. She burst through the main doors and ran through the courtyard towards her classroom. The building was empty and quiet, confirming Marinette's fears that she was indeed late. Her class was just within arm's reach! She could make it! She could see Miss Bustier about to begin roll call! She was going to avoid a late mark!

"GAH!" Marinette cried out as she leaned forward to barge the door open, only her body never hit anything. Instead, she kept falling until she collided with the ground, gaining some more bruises and scrapes in the process.

The whole class was silent for a few seconds before everyone burst out laughing. Marinette didn't even want to look up. She kept her face pressed against the floor, her skin feeling hot as she blushed in embarrassment. The laughter vibrated the floor Marinette had her ear pressed against, and she wished that the ground could just swallow her up.

"Oh look, Dupain-Cheng is on the dirty floor where she belongs," a familiar, teasing voice soon filled Marinette's ears, finally causing her to look up and towards the door.

"_Chloé_," Marinette growled out, clenching her hands into fists.

Chloé Bourgeois stood by the door with her hand still on the handling, smirking down at her.

"You did that on purpose!"

Chloé sneered. "Uh, as if! It's not my fault you have no private car to get you to school on time."

"Good morning, Marinette," Miss Bustier interrupted before the girls' fight could continue any further. "Even though you are late, you did arrive before I started the register, so I won't mark you down as such. Now please take your seat. And Chloé, I thought you needed to use the bathroom?"

Chloé flicker her golden pony tail over her shoulder before leaving.

Marinette flushed as she quickly picked herself up off the floor and made her way towards her seat before quickly slamming her head down against the desk in an attempt to hide herself again.

However, she should have known she wouldn't be able to get a few seconds on humiliating peace, as it wasn't long before she felt a familiar elbow in her side.

"How is it that you're always late even though you live just across the street?" Alya questioned, giggling slightly, though there was a small hint of concern.

"It wasn't my fault!" Marinette finally picked her head up off her desk to protest.

Alya rolled her eyes before sighing. "So what was it this time?"

"I was helping this old man I'd knocked over," Marinette explained.

"Assaulting the elderly; that's gotta be a new one," Alya laughed.

"It's not funny, Alya!"

"You're right." Alya attempted to calm herself down. "You pushing old people over is not funny."

Marinette glared at her best friend.

"Okay it is kinda funny." Alya burst out laughing again, unable to keep her composure for long.

Marinette sulked.

"Oh come on, girl, I was only teasing. Usually you have a better sense of humour than this," Alya chuckled as she wrapped her arm around Marinette's shoulder.

"I'm not in the mood today."

"Well you better be!" Alya demanded. "Because we have a whole night of horror movies and snacks ahead of us tonight! We can't have your sour face ruining everything."

Marinette gulped. "Horror movies?"

"Yeah?" Alya replied as if it was obvious. "It is only a few weeks until Halloween after al. Juleka is going to bring the best from her collection and we're going to have a really spooky themed night. Especially since we can't have the sleepover on the actual day of Halloween this year because of the party. Hey, I bet you have the most awesome costume design for this year!"

"_Horror movies?_" Marinette repeated, her teeth already chattering in fear as she ignored the rest of Alya's comments.

"What's the matter? You're not still scared of horror movies, are you?" Alya playfully teased.

"Who? Me?" Marinette tried to act as casual as possible. "No way! Bring it on, I say! All of the guts and the blood and the ghosts… and the jump scares… and the creepy music… and the demons…"

Alya smiled and shook her head, no doubt seeing right through her.

"Like I said, it's going to be a really _spoooooooky _night," she kept testing Marinette, trying to make her crack.

Marinette's smile wobbled. "And like _I_ said: _bring it on._"

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**I hope this chapter doesn't come across as rusty, as that's how I'm certainly feeling after months of an unofficial hiatus. Updates shouldn't normally take months with me. I'd just been having a bad time this past few months. Usually updates should only take a couple of weeks at most. I guess that just all depends on whether life decides to be nice to me. But yeah, I am so psyched for this story now! I'm so glad that I'm now finally re-writing it, and I hope that it will be even better than the original!**

**But I guess the only people who can really decide that is you guys, so please feel free to let me know your thoughts and opinions in a review, as they really help me out a great deal. To follow what I'm doing and when a next update might be, you can follow me on my blog or on Twitter (links available on profile). I'll try and update again as soon as I can, hopefully around next week or something, I guess I'll see how things go. Thank you so much for reading! See you soon!**


	3. Night of Horrors

**Salut! Long-time no see! Yeah, a pandemic kinda happened, didn't it? And since I work in the health industry, I was classed as an essential worker, and have been working so many extra hours due to colleagues catching the virus, needing to self-isolate due to medical conditions, or just straight up refusing to show up to work. Not that I blame them. But that means everything has fallen onto me. Whoopie. **

**Thank you so much for being patient with me though! I hope that you've all been doing okay and have managed to stay safe during this pandemic. Please make sure that you're self-isolating as much as you because this virus is not a joke. In the meantime, thank you so much for all of your amazing reviews and I'm so glad that you're all enjoying the story so far! All feedback is greatly appreciated!**

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**Chapter II: Night of Horrors**

Screams of terror filled the room. A high pitched wail followed as it sounded like the main protagonist was being attacked. Marinette certainly wasn't going to come out of her hiding place to find out. She clutched the cushion tighter to her chest, further burying her face into the fabric in a desperate attempt to block out everything that was going on. All of her bravado from earlier had completely vanished. Vanished the moment the creepy music had started at the beginning to the movie Juleka had insisted on them all watching.

Marinette could feel Mylène tense up next to her, making her glad that she wasn't the only person that was struggling through this. Though while Mylène was likely at least attempting to put on a brave face, Marinette wasn't even trying to hide her fear anymore.

She _hated _horror movies. Hated them with a passion.

But of course, since this was a Halloween themed sleepover, the others had insisted on watching them. Marinette was terrified of anything to do with the paranormal, even though she wasn't sure if she believed in that stuff in the first place. Go figure. Why couldn't they watch something with a Halloween theme that wasn't super scary? Since Alya's parents weren't here, they had all taken full advantage of watching the movies that they weren't supposed to. Plus, they reasoned they were only two years away from reaching eighteen, so what harm could it do?

_Every harm_, Marinette thought to herself. Even if she _was _eighteen, she wouldn't want to watch these movies. She wasn't even sure what the plot to this particular movie was. All she knew was that it involved some sort of demonic curse. Definitely one of Marinette's least favourite horror sub-genres.

The creepy music continued to loudly blare, and every now and again, Alix would laugh, to which Alya and Juleka would respond with a harsh shushing sound. Though Marinette mentally begged Alix to keep laughing. At least it helped somewhat drown out the sinister strings that built up to a jump-scare every single time.

Finally, the room was filled with one final scream before everything went dark, and the atmospheric music of the credits began to play. Marinette could feel Mylène relax next to her, and that's when she knew it was safe to come out of her hiding place.

Slowly peering up from behind her cushion, Marinette straightened herself out from her foetal position on the couch when she got visual confirmation that the credits were indeed rolling. Everyone else sat around the TV also shifted while Alya began crawling towards the DVD player to take the disc out. Rose remained huddled against Juleka's side, looking like she'd had just about as much fun with that as Marinette and Mylène had.

"That was so scary!" Rose squeaked out, further burying herself into Juleka's shoulder.

"Pffft, you wimp," Alix dismissed.

"Hey, Rose wasn't the only one who was frightened," Marinette tried to defend her friend.

Alix rolled her eyes. "And how would you know? You were hiding under the cushion throughout the whole movie."

"Y-yeah… well…" Marinette's face turned red as she stuttered in embarrassment.

"Some of us just don't like that sort of thing, Alix," Mylène chimed in, folding her arms across her chest as she relaxed further back into the couch.

Alix laughed.

"Guys, chillax, we're supposed to be having fun remember?" Alya tried to cool things as she began sifting through the rest of the DVDs that Juleka had brought with her. "So, what do you want to watch next?"

"Do we have to?" Marinette whimpered before she could stop herself.

"What about the one with the serial killer?" Juleka urged, leaning forward with an excited glint in her eye, Rose still clinging to her as she did so.

"Ugh, Marinette is right, do we have to watch any more right now?" Alix sighed in boredom as she threw her head back against the couch dramatically. "None of these are very scary. We should do something else for a bit instead."

"Like what?" Alya asked as she placed down the DVDs.

"Something that's actually scary," replied Alix.

"We could always look through Chloé's Instagram? That always terrifies me." Alya chuckled.

"Well… I did bring my Ouija board with me," Juleka announced as she reached around to grab her backpack.

"Awesome!" Alya got up and began dragging the coffee table back into the centre of the living room area. Alix shifted out of the way while all Marinette could do was cringe further back into the couch. Why did she have to open her big mouth? She was pretty sure she would rather deal with the horror movies than take part in this paranormal game. Not that she believed in ghosts but… she didn't want to be proven wrong…

"The first one to scream has to pay for the pizza!" Alix yelled in excitement.

Great, so not only would Marinette be humiliated and terrified, but she would also be out of pocket.

"Hey, no fair!" Mylène snapped.

"You're just saying that because you know that it'll most likely be you," Alix teased.

"No," Alya giggled, "I think we all know that if anyone is going to scream first, it's going to be Marinette."

Marinette blushed even more as all of her friends began nodding in agreement.

The knot in Marinette's stomach further tightened as Marinette watched them set up the game. Everyone began gathering around the coffee table, sitting cross-legged as Juleka pulled out the board and unfolded it, setting it neatly down on the table. Alya moved the candles so that they too were also set around the coffee table, surrounding the game in an ominous orange glow. It made the surrounding room look even darker now that the candles were all in one place, and it gave Marinette the sense that at any moment, something was going to reach out from the dark void and grab her. Before the game had even begun, it was like she could feel someone breathing on her neck, hauntingly tickling her.

"Gah!" Marinette yelped as she leapt back, Alix quickly bursting out laughing afterwards.

"Marinette screamed! She pays for pizza!" Alix shouted.

"That wasn't fair! You cheated!" Marinette protested, her heart still not having recovered from Alix's dirty trick.

"Oh come on, Alix, leave Marinette alone," Alya stuck up for her. "The game hasn't even started yet, so it doesn't count. And you can't cheat either!"

Alix sighed in annoyance. "You guys make it too easy though."

"Yeah well, you can all have fun without me because I'm not playing," Marinette huffed as she got back up to collapse onto the couch, once again cuddling the cushion against her chest as she pouted in annoyance. She was tired of Alix's stupid tricks and teasing. It wasn't her fault that she spooked easily. She wasn't just going to sit there and let her friends gang up on her.

"Oh come on, Marinette," Alya protested. "This is a Halloween themed sleepover after all."

"I can't believe you're scared of toy, you chicken," Alix continued to mock.

"This is not a toy!" Juleka gasped. "It's all real and we have to be careful."

"Not exactly helping…" Rose shuddered.

"I'm sorry, Rose, it's okay," Juleka quickly reached down to comfort her, "we'll be safe as long as we play by the rules."

Alix rolled her eyes. "I can't believe you actually buy into this sh –"

"I'm not doing it if all you guys are going to do is tease me!" Marinette interrupted.

"We won't!"

"No promises – OUCH!" Alix cried out as Alya elbowed her in the ribs.

"Please, Marinette? It'll be less scary if all of us do it," Mylène tried to persuade.

Marinette sat stiffly for a few more seconds as she regarded the board on the coffee table below her. Alix was right. It was just a stupid toy. How were spirits supposed to communicate through that thing anyway? Not that spirits were real of course. So maybe it would be best to just get this over and done with. After all, nothing was going to happen. She could prove to her friends once and for all that she wasn't _that _much of a chicken.

Marinette sighed. "Fine. But if you guys prank me into thinking a demon wants to possess me, you're dead."

And with that, Marinette slid herself off the couch and sat around the table with the rest of her friends. Juleka was the first to place her hands on the planchette, smiling in anticipation. Alix quickly followed, looking slightly bored as she did so. Next came Alya who appeared indifferent to the whole thing, and she was then followed by Rose and Mylène, though they were definitely a lot more intimidated and apprehensive.

That's when all eyes once again fell upon Marinette.

Gulping, Marinette shakily reached her hand out and slowly placed her finger on the planchette. She watched the hands of her friends suspiciously, making sure that none of them were going to try and move the small piece of wood themselves in an attempt to freak her out. _None of this is real, none of this is real, none of this is real. _Marinette kept repeating that phrase to herself over and over again. She could prove to her friends that she wasn't some easily scared whimp. She could do this. None of it was real anyway, so nothing was going to happen.

Juleka cleared her throat and Marinette, Rose and Mylène shrank back nervously. Marinette had to force herself to keep her finger on the planchette. She had to swallow her fear. She couldn't show to the others that she was currently terrified out of her mind. She would never hear the end of it. Especially off Alix.

"Is there anybody there?" Juleka asked.

Marinette held her breath.

Nothing happened.

"How many spirits are in here with us?" Juleka continued.

Again, nothing happened.

Alix sighed and rested the elbow of her free arm on her knee, looking bored. Alya too relaxed slightly, staring at the board with a fed up expression. Marinette found herself growing slightly more comfortable. She had been right. These things were just stupid toys. Ghosts and demons weren't real. This whole thing was stupid. Juleka frowned at the board in frustration, waiting for any form of response.

"Sometimes spirits can be slow," Juleka explained.

"Things that don't exist typically are." Alix chuckled.

"Is there anybody there?" Juleka asked again.

However, everyone in the room soon gasped as they began to feel the planchette moving beneath their fingers. Marinette's heart sank all the way down to her stomach as if it was suddenly made of lead. Slowly but surely, the planchette began drifting towards the corner of the Ouija board before finally landing on the word '_yes_'.

Marinette screamed, promptly followed by Alix's fits of giggles.

"You should have…seen…your faces!" Alix managed to gasp out between her laughter.

Everyone else sighed in annoyance while Marinette continued panting, trying desperately to calm her racing heart as her face once again turned a bright shade of red.

"Very funny, Alix," Mylène grumbled.

"Okay, I think we've all proved how brave we are," Alya said as she placed her free hand on Marinette's shoulder in a small attempt to help calm her friend down. "What do you say that we order some pizza and watch some more movies?"

"Oh, please, not another horror movie!" Rose begged.

"Hang on guys!" Juleka cried out in alarm as everyone was about to take their fingers off the planchette and stand back up. "We have to say goodbye first!"

"Does it matter?" Alya asked.

"Saying goodbye closes the session. If you let go before doing so, you invite a spirit or demon to latch onto you. An Ouija board is like a portal and it needs to be closed," Juleka explained gravely.

Marinette looked down at it nervously, allowing Juleka to guide the planchette, with their fingers still in place, all the way to the section of the board that had the word 'goodbye' written on it. Once that was done, Juleka flipped the planchette over and everyone let go. Marinette scooted away as far back as possible before pulling herself up back onto the sofa. Everyone else waited patiently while Alya got up and grabbed her phone to begin ordering the pizza.

Alix let out one last giggle before making her way into the kitchen and rummaging through the cupboards. Marinette watched her through slightly narrowed eyes, still unable to get over Alix pranking them all like that. As if Alix could sense her friend glaring at her, she turned around and pointed at Marinette.

"Don't forget that Marinette's paying!"

"No, she isn't," Alya interjected as she ended the call.

"But she screamed first!"

"Only because you tricked us again," Alya argued, "so we're all going to split the payment like we agreed to do in the first place. And leave Marinette alone. You're going to end up giving her a heart attack."

Marinette shot her best friend a grateful smile.

"Ugh, and here I was hoping for free food," Alix moaned.

"Sorry to disappoint," Marinette muttered sarcastically, pulling her knees up against her chest before resting her chin on top of them. She'd definitely had enough excitement for one night.

"Oh and by the way, we're out of snacks," Alix added.

"But we're ordering pizza," Mylène replied as she turned to stare at Alix in disbelief.

"So? We at least need popcorn while we watch more movies. It's an unbreakable sleepover rule."

Alya sighed. "Fine! There's a twenty-four hour store just down the road so we can go and quickly pick some stuff up from there."

"What about the pizza?" Juleka questioned.

"I'll stay in and wait for it," Marinette offered, "you guys go ahead." She could do with the peace and quiet for a bit.

"Are you sure? One of us could stay with you?" Alya offered.

"And have you all arguing that the stuff you wanted didn't get brought back?" Marinette half-joked. "I'll be fine. I don't want anything anyway."

She wasn't exactly thrilled about being left alone in the middle of the night, but if it meant that she could grab some time to try and calm herself down after everything, then she'd take that opportunity. Maybe she could even hide the rest of the horror movies while her friends were gone. That way they would have to watch something much more pleasant.

"Well if you're sure," Alya responded as everyone began pulling their jackets on.

"She's sure!" Alix replied for her, practically pushing Alya out of the door.

"Thanks, Marinette!" They all called out over their shoulders as they were all pushed out of the door by a hungry Alix. Marinette rolled her eyes but waved to them anyway.

As the front door slammed shut and locked behind them, an ominous feeling rolled over Marinette. It felt weird being virtually alone in a friend's apartment. The whole apartment was so quiet, you could hear a pin drop.

It was incredibly unnerving, but Marinette managed to swallow back her fear as best as she could. There was no such things as ghosts and demons. The lack of response from the Ouija board had proved that. Not to mention, her friends would be back within a few minutes, so it wasn't like Marinette was going to be alone for long. She contemplated turning the lights on, but no doubt her friends would tease her for doing so. The only light in the room came from the glow of the two candles on the coffee table, filling the room with ominous orange light.

The minutes ticked by and her friends still hadn't returned. Marinette was growing bored and impatient. Her eyes found themselves darting over to the Ouija board that Juleka had left on the table. How could Juleka believe that spirits were real and that the board game actually worked? Maybe she should have a try at the game on her own? To prove to herself once and for all that the things that went bump in the night were not the result of ghosts and demons. Marinette would finally be able to have peace of mind. Maybe then she could watch horror movies without flinching. If she could do this, then she could do anything. These thoughts whirled around in Marinette's head as she reached one hand towards the board.

No.

Marinette pulled her hand back. What if something _did_ happen? She was all alone in the living room with nothing but young girls for company who were asleep in their room. But wait, how could something happen? It had been proven earlier that the game didn't work. Ouija boards were just cheap mass marketed toys, so how could anything happen? Nothing could happen. Right?

Marinette then sighed to herself, moving off the couch to sit next to the Ouija board again.

"I must be out of my mind."

* * *

**Oh man, I have missed writing! It feels great to be back in the saddle again. You watch, they'll be chaos at work again now meaning that I have to disappear for another few months. But here's hoping that doesn't happen. If this current trend continues, I'll be back to more regular updating again. One can only hope anyway. Be sure to follow my Twitter or check out my blog if you want potential update information. **

**Anyway, I think Marinette is going to do a stupid. What do you guys think? Sorry to leave it on that cliffhanger, but the chapter would have been way too long otherwise. As always, please feel free to let me know what you thought of this chapter, as reviews always help me out a great deal and inspire me to keep writing. I hope that you're all staying safe during this pandemic and remember to wear a mask, keep your distance, and wash your hands. I had my own COVID-19 scare, and trust me, you really don't want to have to go through the test. Or the disease itself for that matter. But don't worry, I tested negative – phew! Stay safe out there!**


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